Abstract [en]

Today’s fast changing society places great demands on enterprises innovations as is necessary to keep continued strong competition in the market.

This report will examine the initial step, idea generation and idea management, in the innovative product development process with the main purpose to clarify the methods and tools, which is used to create an innovative and creative climate within the organization. The report has been available as intention to investigate whether there are any differences between company sizes and industries in the selected area.

The study is based on literature, and on en-qualitative empirical study of responding enterprises in the manufacturing industry. In total eight companies participated in the study. The material has then been analysed and compared in order to develop conclusions and recommendations for the companies that are concerned.

The work has been carried out both in the group about four people to get as much material as possible and individually. The parts introduction, theory and method was developed together by the group. Each person then interviewed two companies from where there were processed empirical data, analysis and conclusions. The group also made a joint analysis and conclusion.

The report found that there was awareness among the responding companies about the weight of idea generation. Both the way they have chosen to organize themselves and the methods and tools as used in their ideation work felt, on many points, again from literary source. Available analysis showed that large companies tend to have a larger variance within the organization until the difference from the smaller operations, where it is seen idea generation work more consistently.